Karen Hart

Since 1947, this steakhouse and local institution has occupied a spot on Colonial Drive, as big-box stores and strip malls have grown up around it. Sixty years later, the only omnivore’s dilemma is which juicy cut to order. Owner Karen Hart feels passionately about preserving her grandfather’s dream, and wants her diners to come away with that feeling as well. “We do everything almost exactly like it was done in the ’40s and ’50s. No POS systems, no outside management group. We are employees first and owners second,” she says.
 
Sit in the Fire Fountain Lounge sipping a grasshopper while you’re waiting for your checked-tablecloth table in the dining room – and keep in mind that on most nights, reservations are recommended. All steaks are cut in-house, including the monster 2-pound T-bone, which sports both the strip side and filet side. “It’s increasingly difficult to get the size we have in the past, but we make it happen every day. We’re far from perfect, but we strive to make every meal just right,” says Hart.
 
4721 E. Colonial Drive, 407-894-4491; $$$